Medical apparatus



United States Patent lnventors James C. Dawson;

Harold H. Norlie, Elmhurst, Ill. Appl. No. 755,253 Filed Aug. 26, 1968 Patented Dec. 15, 1970 Assignee Downor, Inc.

Chicago, 111. a corporation of Delaware MEDICAL APPARATUS 6 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

U.S. Cl. 224/5; 128/214 Int. Cl A45! 5/00; A6lm 5/14 Field of Search 224/59,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 578,572 3/1897 Lashells 224/5.1 2,223,253 11/1940 Hamilton... 224/5.1 2,464,352 3/1949 Simon 224/5.1 2,723,665 11/1955 Goldsmith.. 128/133 3,021,985 2/1962 Sarver 224/5.1

Primary Examiner-Gerald M. Forlenza AuorneyAnderson, Luedeka, Fitch, Even & Tabin ABSTRACT: An apparatus is provided which is adapted to supporting a container of intravenous fluid in a position suitable for administration of fluid to a patient who is moving about or who is moved about. The apparatus includes a harness assembly and a support assembly. The harness assembly is adapted to be secured to the body of a patient. The support assembly is attached to the harness assembly and is adapted to support a container of fluid in a position suitable for administering the contents of the container by intravenous attachment to the patient.

PATENTEU nEcl 519m INVENTORS JAMES c. mama amma a. 0km

MEDICAL APPARATUS The present invention relates generally to medical apparatus, and more particularly relates to apparatus for the administration of intravenous fluids to patients who are not bedridden.

The intravenous administration of fluids to a patient is well known in the medical art. The administration of fluids by intravenous feeding is, in the majority of instances, performed on persons who are bedridden or are undergoing surgery or are otherwise incapacitated andincapable of moving about. Consequently, the conventional facility for administration of fluids by intravenous feeding is a fixed, stationary stand located adjacent to a bed or attached thereto. The stand is adapted to support a container or bottle from which the fluid is dispensed. This stand is not readily moved.

For some types of disease or injury, the patient receives substantially all of his nourishment through an intravenous feeding system. It frequently happens, however, that the patient is not incapacitated and does not require confinement to a bed for purposes other than the intravenous feeding. Such feeding, however, requires a substantial period of time in that the medicine to be fed to the patients veinal system is withdrawn from a container dropwise and requires a-lengthy period of time to be administered. During the course of the intravenous feeding, the patient is usually required to remain substantially immobile near the station which has beenestablished to contain the feeding mechanism, including the container holding the medicine which is administered.

in the past some mobility has been established for patients requiring intravenous feeding by permitting nurses or visitors to hand-carry the medicine container. This is, of course, inconvenient and a portable intravenous feeding station would be desirable. Portable stations have been established by mounting a container support structure on a movable wheeled cart. Such portable stations have been found objectionable, however, because of the possibility that the station will be overturned.

With prior art fixed intravenous feeding stations it has often been difficult to move or transport patients requiring intravenous feeding. One procedure is to attach the medicine container to a supporting structure which is affixed to a cart or stretcher. This solution, however, is not wholly satisfactory in that attendants are required to move the patient even though he is capable of moving himself.

It would be desirable to provide apparatus which would enable a patient requiring intravenous administration of medicine to be ambulatory during the administration of the medicine. This would permit those patients who are not seriously ill to move about and perform useful or therapeutic tasks while intravenous feeding is being performed and would permit pa tients to obtain relief from prolonged periods of intravenous feeding in a prone position.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the administration of intravenous fluids to persons who are not bedridden.

It is another object of the invention to provide an apparatus which can be conveniently carried by a patient and which supports all of the equipment and supplies necessary for the administration of intravenous fluids to the patient.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an apparatus adapted to support a container in a position suitable for administering the contents of the container by intravenous means to a patient as the patient moves about.

It is a still further object of the invention to provide a frame to be carried by a patient which is adapted to support a container in a position where its contents may be administered intravenously to the patient while the patient observes the container.

These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the the following detailed description and the accompanying drawings wherein:

FlG. l is a perspective view showing one form of an apparatus embodying various features of the invention as the ap paratus would appear as carried by a patient, as viewed from the front of the patient; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the apparatus as seen in FIG. 1, as viewed from the rear of the patient.

Generally, in accordance with various of the features of the invention, an apparatus 10 is provided which is adapted to support a container of intravenous fluid in a position suitable for administering the fluid to a patient who is moving about or who is moved about. As shown in the drawings, the apparatus generally comprises a harness assembly 11 and a support assembly 13. The harness assembly 11 is adapted to be secured to the body of a patient. The support assembly 13 is attached to the harness assembly 11 and is adapted to support a container of fluid in a position suitable for administering the con tents of the container by intraveneous attachment to the patient.

More particularly, the harness assembly 11, as shown in the drawings, comprises a pair of shoulder rests 15 connected across the back of the patient by a bracket 17 and across the 'front of the patient by a chest strap 19. The shoulder rests 15 are generally U-shaped to enable them to conform to the curvature of the shoulder of the patient and each includes a pair of curved plates 20 interconnected by a hinge 21 which is positioned at the upper edge of the shoulder when the rests are in place. Pads 23 line those surfaces of the plates 20 which are adjacent to the body to prevent discomfort to the patient and to aid in conforming the plates to the curvature of the body. As seen in the drawing, as a shoulder rest is located adjacent each side of the head of the wearer over each of the shoulders of the wearer. In anotherembodiment of the invention, the shoulder rests may be made from a single piece of flexible material into generally U-shaped configurations and spring fitted over the shoulder of the wearer by reason of the resiliency of the material used.

The two shoulder rests 15 are maintained in spaced relation to each other by-the connecting bracket 17 which unites the shoulder rests into a rigid harness assembly. A flat bracket member 24 is attached at one of its ends to the rearwardmost plate 20 of each of the shoulder rests l5, and each bracket member is of sufficient length to permit the outer ends of the members to overlap across the back of the wearer. Mating slots 25 are located in the outer end of each of the members 24 so as to permit them to be interconnected by fasteners 27 while permitting-adjustment in the spacing of the shoulder rests 15 to accommodate different sized wearers. It would, of course, be possible to connect the shoulder rests by a single connecting bracket which could be manufactured in different lengths to accommodate users of various sizes. It is preferred, however, for reasons of manufacturing and storage economy, to use the adjustable connecting bracket 17 described above.

The shoulder rests l5 and connecting bracket 17 may be made of any suitable rigid or semirigid material, such as plastic, metal or wood. Aluminum is preferred for reasons of ease of machinability, appearanceand corrosion resistance. The pads 23 which line the plates 20 may be of any suitable material, such as sponge rubber or foamed plastic, or soft conformable material such as a nonwoven fabric or soft leather.

The chest strap 19 is tied to the forward plate 20 of each of the shoulder rests 15, passes across the chest of the wearer and is securely fastened to the bracket 17, thereby securely attaching the shoulder rests and bracket to the body of the wearer. As shown in FIG. 1, the chest strap 19 passes through strap loops 29 which are attached to the front plate of each shoulder rest and is adjustable in length by means of a buckle 30.

When assembled in position on the wearer, the hingedly connected pairs of plates 20 are placed over the shoulders of the wearer in a comfortable position. The connecting bracket 17 is then adjusted to the proper length and the fasteners 27 tightened. The chest strap 19 is then tightened across the chest of the wearer by means of the buckle 30 to firmly affix the entire harness assembly to the body of the wearer and provide a base for the support assembly 13 to be described hereinafter.

The support assembly 13 comprises a main vertical post or standard 31 which is attached to one of the rearward plates 20 by suitable means such as bolting or welding, and extends upend in a position suitable for supporting a container suspended from that end in a position in which it clears the upright portion of the standard and in which it can be easily observed by the wearer.

In this connection, the height of the outermost end of the standard 31 above the shoulder of the patient is sufficient to locate a container suspended from the outermost end a distance above the upper forearm of the patient sufficient to establish a suitable pressure head to properly feed the contents of the container to the patient. To add rigidity to the standard 31, a brace 30is attached to and extends from the outermost end of the standard in a gradual'curve to a second joint of attachment on the standard several inches below the bend, and then extends at an angle to the standard downwardly and forwardly to the forward plate 20 of the shoulder rest to which the standard is attached. Thus, the standard 31 and brace 35 are attached to opposite sides of and straddle one of the shoulder rests 15. The attachment to the front plate is adjustable to permit adaptation of the angle of the standard 31. As best seen in FIG. 1, the adjustable brace has a slot 37 formed near the end thereof which receives a bolt 38 attached to the plate 20 and provided with a wing nut 40.

A container 41 is suspended from the standard 31 by suitable means, such as a snap hook 43. The container 41 is secured from swaying by a strap 45, which encircles the container and is secured to the brace 35 by a strut 47. The prevention of swaying of the container 41 is advantageous in that it prevents disturbance of the contents of the container and prevents damage to the container or feeding valve 48 attached.

to the container, when the patient moves about.

Additional rigidity is established in the support assembly 13 by other members, such as the brace 49 which extends from the brace 35 to the rear plate 20 of the shoulder rest 15 just rearwardly of the hinge 21. Although it is not considered necessary, an additional adjustable brace 51 can be provided to further strengthen the support, assembly and reduce the amount of any lateral sway. When the container 41 has been secured in position on the support assembly 13, the container is connected to the arm of the patient by a suitable connecting tube 51. The patient is then free to move about as the contents of the container are administered at a rate determined by the physician. The container is in a position which may be viewed by the patient who may then observe whether the feeding is continuing properly.

It will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art that the harness assembly and support assembly of the invention are readily adaptable to modification and such modifications are considered within the scope'of the invention, which is defined in the appended claims. i

We claim:

1. Portable apparatus for use in connection with the administration of fluids intravenously to a patient comprising harness means adapted to be secured to the upper portion of the torso of the patient and defining a base and support means secured to said harness means, said harness means including a pair of shoulder rests wherein each of said pairs of shoulder rests comprises hingedly connected plates, said shoulder rests being adapted to fit over the shoulders of the patient and to conform generally to the torso of the patient, said support means including a rigid elongated standard, said rigid standard extending upwardly and forwardly with respect to the patient from said harness means and said rigid standard being provided with means at its upper end to facilitate the attachment thereto of a fluid container, the uppermost portion of said rigid standard being at a height at least equivalent to the top of the head of the patient and being forward of .the patient a distance sufficient that a fluid container when attached to said rigid standard can be easily seen b said patient.

2. The portable apparatus of e arm 1 wherein said harness means includes at least one adjustable rigid member disposed across the back of the patient and adjustably connecting said pair of shoulder rests. v

3. The portable apparatus of claim 1 wherein said shoulder rests are lined with a deformable material.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 which also comprises means bracing said rigid standard so as to minimize relative movement between said standard and said harness.

5. The apparatus of claim I wherein said rigid standard is provided with means for securing a fluid container and preventing movement of the container as the patient moves about.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein said securing means comprises a strap affixed to said rigid standard, said strap being disposed so as to be placed and tightened around a fluid container.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3,547,322 Dated December 15, 1970 Inventor(s) James C. Dawson and Harold H. Norlie It is certified that error appears in. the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

The name of the assignee is Dawnor, Inc. rather than "Downor, Inc."

Signed and sealed this 6th day of April 1971.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M.FLETCHER,JR. WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM FWD-1050 (10-69) 

